


The seven tiers of hell

by TailorNorata



Series: Tumblr Short Stories [9]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Anniversaries, Arguing, Cake, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 18:51:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14384925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TailorNorata/pseuds/TailorNorata
Summary: Baking a cake is easy for Eliot, stacking it on his own might have been an ambitious idea though.





	The seven tiers of hell

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GracieBirdie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GracieBirdie/gifts).



“We could try the-”  
Eliot shook his head “No Hardison, we can’t, everything would collapse.”

Hardison was clearly offended “You..you didn’t even let me explain my idea. What I wanted to say is we could take the-”

Eliot cut him off, his face twisted with the sort of stressed angry he sometimes got when impossible was expected of him.  
“Take the top six damn tiers, secure them with pins and hope for the best? Yeah no, I’m not an amateure Hardison, stop interrupting me while I’m trying to think of an actual solution.”

Hardison pressed his lips together and stared at the seven cakes in front of them.  
There was a moment of silence before he opened his mouth again to say something else and Eliot raised his hand “No.”  
“But-” 

Before Hardison could say more Parker came in and smiled at both of them before reaching out to get a finger full of the bowl filled with chocolate buttercream, but Eliot grabbed her wrist and stared at her for a moment before she rolled her eyes.

“Fine” she said, clearly unhappy, and jumped up to sit on the counter and watch them.  
“What are we doing?”

Eliot growled even more unhappy and Hardison huffed before elaborating.  
“Well look, Mr. Grumpy here wanted to make a cake for tomorrow to celebrate our seven year anniversary. Originally he intended to be done before we see it-”

Eliot growled again “I did not, I wasn’t keeping it a secret, I just didn’t actively tell you.”

Parker grinned “Aaaaw, you wanted to surprise us.”

Clearly in a bad mood about his failure Eliot stayed quiet and stared at the cakes like they had personally offended him. As far as he was concerned they probably had.

Hardison continued.

“So, the problem is, the cakes are too soft, so he is concerned they might collapse. But if he doesn’t stack them then his concept is ruined and as we all know, that’s not an option. So now he wants to find a solution without anybody’s help.”

With furrowed brows Parker stared at the cakes as well.  
“Why not cool them down enough to be harder and less…soft. Or make a wonky cake. You know the ones that have that funny name - tabletops?”

“Topsy Turvy…” Eliot murmured before explaining “That are cakes that look like they could collapse but actually are solid enough in their structure not to. So no. And the fridge isn’t big enough for all seven, but if I don’t cool them at once then the others will warm up again. Freezing them could corrupt the structure and stacking them in a much colder state than serving the cake means it might collapse when it warms up…”

Parker pointed at the pole in the corner of the kitchen.  
“So why exactly aren’t we using that thing?”

Since Eliot just groaned Hardison decided to repeat what he had gotten as an explanation earlier.

“The cakes might break apart when Eliot tries to raise them above the pole and push them onto it without applying the pressure carefully and evenly enough.”

After a head tilt and a calculating “hmmmm…” he then continued.

“Come to think of it though - if you are in Parker - I think you could suspend yourself from the ceiling and help Eliot and me keep the cakes steady while they are pushed on the pole.”

Eliot said “This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you’ve ever had.”   
“Of course I’m in.” exclaimed Parker at the same time, grinning at the idea of hanging from the ceiling while balancing cake.

There was another groan from Eliot but now it was his time to grumble “Fine.”

Before adding “Worst comes to worst I can still make cake pops out of the crumble.”

Hardison smiled wide and pulled Eliot in to give him a soft kiss on the temple.  
“See, teamwork makes the dream work.”  
Parker jumped from the table to get her gear while calling back “I want to lick out the bowl later!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it :)  
> This story is not beta read.  
> Comments make me happy!


End file.
